Darlington Farmers Auction Mart held their weekly sale of prime stock on Thursday 5th February 2026. Forward were 233 cattle and 1350 sheep.
59 Prime Bulls sold to 436ppk or £3531
53 Prime Steers sold to 447ppk or £3149
121 Prime Heifers sold to 492ppk or £3316
1126 Prime Hoggs sold to 409ppk or £184
224 Cast Ewes/Rams sold to £272
Prime Bulls (59) – A smart top end ensured impressive and improved bull averages of 387ppk and £2747 this week. Trade continued its recent good form as of the fifty-nine forward, some twenty-six sold over £3000 and twenty-seven sold above 400ppk. Top per kilo at 436 pence was a beautiful 780kg British Blue from the Renton’s of High Highlaws, the half dozen following in the 430’s contained another from High Highlaws, one from TW Clark & Son, Frankland Farm plus two from the Hird’s of Meadow View and a tremendous trio from TN & J Hall, Ainstable Hall. Leading the gross values was a thumping 855kg British Blonde bull from F & JS Gargett, Westwick Farm when he amounted to £3531, the four closest, and all over £3400, included two smart sorts from TW Clark & Son plus one apiece for J Layfield, Nackshivan Farm and the aforementioned pence per kilo topper from the Renton’s. Native breed bulls were topped in the lump by a hefty lad from Mayfield Beef Shorthorns, Wolsingham at £2711 whilst the best per kilo at 374 pence was a well put together Aberdeen Angus from R Hall & Son, Kilton Hall. Further kudos for Kilton Hall followed as they also led the Friesian feeders with a cracker selling at 350ppk and £2247. See below some of the stand out pen averages.
GK, KN & GJ Hird sold 3 averaged 429ppk and £2990
Renton Highlaws Ltd sold 4 averaged 426ppk and £3170
TN & J Hall sold 8 averaged 423ppk and £3127
TW Clark & Son sold 7 averaged 417ppk and £3227
J Layfield sold 5 averaged 417ppk and £3181
F & JS Gargett sold 3 averaged 375ppk and £3191
Continental Bulls leading PPK – 436 430 428 410 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 435 432 421 GK, KN & GJ Hird. 434 430(x2) 427 424 420 419 406 TN & J Hall. 429 428 425 422 J Layfield. 425 R Hall & Son. 423(x2) 419 418 417 TW Clark & Son. 413 F & JS Gargett.
Native Breed Bulls Leading PPK – 374 R Hall & Son. 352 351 343 338 GS Dowson. 350 JK & CE Farming. 349 347 JC & P Tallentire.
Friesian Bulls Leading PPK – 350 R Hall & Son. 333 Williamson. 329 JM & S Walton. 314 D Walker.
Continental Bulls Leading Gross – £3531 £3042 £3001 F & JS Gargett. £3452 £3434 £3352 £3232 £3114 £3058 TW Clark & Son. £3451 £3214 £3123 £3072 £3045 J Layfield. £3400 £3397 Renton Highlaws Ltd. £3389 £3385 £3188 £3122 £3100 £3040 £3003 TN & J Hall. £3128 CA & J Kipling. £3080 GK, KN & GJ Hird. £3026 R Hall & Son.
Native Breed Bulls Leading Gross – £2711 Mayfield Beef Shorthorns. £2700 R Hall & Son. £2628 JK & CE Farming. £2239 £2228 GS Dowson. £2149 £2071 JC & P Tallentire.
Friesian Bulls Leading Gross – £2247 R Hall & Son. £2207 JM & S Walton. £2050 D Walker. £2034 Williamson.
Clean Cattle (174) – More forward with an increased percentage of heavy sorts and first dairy crosses included today as the deadweight options remain detached in comparison to the lively live ring. A good covering of flesh remains paramount to success, those with the thickest loins are arguably 5ppk sharper on the week however all included the trade looks very similar on paper to see the steers average 403ppk and £2752 with the heifers 428ppk and £2618. Trade topped twice per kilo at 492 pence as handy weight Limousin heifers from local feeder B Walker, Birch Springs and Carlisle based W Miller, High Aketon were both snapped up by the longstanding DfAM supporting local butchers H Taylor & Sons. Four hot heifers followed in the 480’s which included another bobby dazzler from Birch Springs, a Cumbrian cracker from TN & J Hall, Ainstable Hall and a Scottish superstar from WM Fleming, Moss Tower. Eighteen heifers then followed between 470ppk and 479ppk. Top of the steers per kilo at 447 pence was an excellent 601kg Limousin from SH Watson & Son, Low Fields, Caldwell; the next three in line between 436ppk and 445ppk all hailed from the prolific WJ Scott Ltd, Low Leam with three well fed sorts from J Gracey, Tehillah, Turiff snapping at their heels with a trio in the 430’s. Few could argue that the top five gross values all deservedly headed back to Aberdeenshire with some fantastic heifer feeding from Messrs WA Fettes, Braes of Enzie. Top of the tree at £3316 was a stunning 721kg 34-month-old British Blue heifer, following at £3238 was a thumping Charolais, next at £3216 and £3199 came two more beautiful British Blue’s with another classy Charolais completing the phenomenal Fettes quintet at the top at £3157. On a day which saw thirteen of the top twenty clean beast which sold beyond £3000 hail from Aberdeenshire credit surely goes to local producers TN Callender who fought off the Scottish supremacy and claimed themselves the top steer gross value, an excellent Limousin at £3149 held firm against the charging J Gracey of Turriff and also E Buchan, Banchory.
Some of the days top averages are listed below.
B Walker sold 2 averaged 490ppk (556kg)
TN & J Hall sold 2 averaged 477ppk (589kg)
M Robinson & Sons sold 3 averaged 472ppk (542kg)
WM Fleming sold 8 averaged 452ppk (589kg)
Renton Highlaws sold 5 averaged 449ppk (606kg)
R Hirst sold 10 averaged 449ppk (558kg)
W Miller sold 11 averaged 447ppk (546kg)
WA Fettes sold 13 averaged £3050 (707kg)
TN Callender sold 3 averaged £2997 (742kg)
WJ Scott Ltd sold 8 averaged £2919 (670kg)
E Buchan sold 4 averaged £2919 (700kg)
Steers- Top Prices PPK 447 411 SH Watson & Son. 445 437 436 410 408 WJ Scott LTD. 435 433 430 426 421 420 414 413 412 x2 411 x2 409 400 x2 384 J Gracey. 429 418 416 412 H Thompson. 427 425 418 398 E Buchan. 425 415 Askwiths. 421 392 NE Dyson. 414 TJ Dennis. 409 405 398 TN Callender. 405 390 JB&N Harrison & Sons. 396 393 Messrs R Miller LTD.
Lead Grossing Steers- £3149 £2965 £2879 TN Callender. £3110 £3096 £3072 £3057 £2980 £2928 £2848 £2820 £2675 £2662 £2641 £2527 J Gracey. £3085 £2925 £2907 £2758 E Buchan. £3063 £3043 £2974 £2945 £2923 WJ Scott LTD. £3053 £2686 SH Watson & Son. £2998 £2993 £2970 £2834 £2599 £2535 Messrs R Miller LTD. £2956 £2893 JB&N Harrison & Sons. £2951 £2842 NE Dyson. £2851 £2788 Askwiths. £2815 TJ Dennis. £2689 £2674 £2650 2562 H Thompson.
Heifers- Top Prices PPK 492 489 B Walker. 492 478 472 448 446 442 440 W Miller. 482 472 TN&J Hall. 480 x2 473 467 440 WM Fleming. 479 474 469 460 444 JV&JA Hodgson. 478 470 446 443 Renton Highlaws Ltd. 478 460 449 441 Messrs WA Fettes. 478 472 468 M Robinson & Sons. 476 474 443 MF Hall. 475 465 444 NE Dyson. 475 448 WJ Scott Ltd. 472 471 470 462 453 447 R Hirst. 446 444 Askwiths. 443 P&JH Davison. 442 JE Suddes & Son.
Lead Grossing Heifers- £3316 £3238 £3216 £3199 £3157 £3062 £3053 £3006 £2992 £2945 £2901 £2881 WA Fettes. £3089 TN&J Hall. £3050 £2802 WJ Scott LTD. £3041 £2912 £2900 £2881 £2832 £2767 £2727 £2721 JV&JA Hodgson. £2995 £2903 £2808 MF Hall. £2956 £2906 Renton Highlaws LTD. £2909 £2866 £2754 £2712 WM Fleming. £2878 £2855 £2810 NE Dyson. £2831 CA&J Kipling. £2816 £2711 R Hirst. £2806 B Walker. £2789 £2781 P Langstaff. £2771 JE Suddes & Son. £2754 £2732 W Swinbank & Sons. £2731 TJ Dennis. £2724 £2714 M Robinson & Sons.
Prime Hoggs (1126) – A nice show with plenty of flesh on offer, the posh Beltex types were few and far between but a solid gathering of hoggs bred from the Mule ewe was turned out before the eight active buyers nonetheless. Trade certainly sharper this week to see a weighed straight all in sale average of 326ppk and £155.74 per head with an SQQ of 350ppk. Topping the sale at £184 and 409 pence per kilo was an excellent 45kg clipped Texel hogg from WA Wardman Ltd, Thrushwood Farm. Plenty of the export weight hoggs (40-45kg) sold 360ppk to 400ppk whilst the buoyant big stuff has a whole new lease of life with £175 and above becoming very common place. Run of the day certainly hailed from the Lincolnshire firm of CA Mottram & Sons, Lansdale House with their hundred Texel’s out of Mules really impressing at 53.93kg and £175.64 seeing them enjoy a £9 per head rise on the week for some great fed hoggs. Mule hoggs were also motoring, the best of them came from JR Knox & Son, Bracks Farm with a pen at 55kg and £167.
Top Lead Grossing Hogg Averages
CA Mottram & Sons sold 100 (53kg) Average £175
RE&L Frank sold 20 (53kg) Average £170
M&A Gaskin sold 21 (55kg) Average £169
D&PH Brown sold 17 (56kg) Average £168
JK&CE Farming sold 8 (60kg) Average £168
Hoggs- Top Prices PPK 397 JJ Horn. 394 384 375 358 337 P Tindale. 394 392 381 377 AS Whitfield. 375 346 MW Barker & Son. 374 358 355 RA&BA Ridley & Son. 371 G Thompson & Sons. 369 353 349 347 TA Greensit & Sons. 363 361 x2 354 348 345 335 GW Whittington Livestock. 363 340 W Kirk & Sons. 358 RA&BA Ridley & Son Ltd. 351 JD Seymour. 351 WR Thompson. 350 DK Barker. 348 D&G Spry. 346 JK&CE Farming. 341 JA Knox. 340 M&A Gaskin. 339 G Thompson & Sons. 338 WA Wardman Ltd. 336 Anna Herbert. 335 R Wood & Son.
Lead Grossing Hoggs- £182 £165 Anna Herbert. £181 £174 £169 JK&CE Farming. £179 x2 £171 £170 M&A Gaskin. £179 £174 JJ Horn. £179 £178 £176 x2 £174 x2 £165 CA Mottram & Sons. £178 RE&L Frank. £177 £168 £166 TA Greensit & Sons. £176 £167 £166 RA&BA Ridley & Son LTD. £174 x2 £173 £169 D&PH Brown. £173.50 £166 AS Whitfield. £172 £168 £167 x2 £166 JR Knox & Son. £170 JK Gill & Son. £170 £168 MJK Dods. £167 W Kirk & Sons. £166 WA Wardman LTD. £165.50 x2 165 Wytherstone Farm. £165.50 P Tindale. £165 MW Barker & Son. £165 R Wood & Son.
Cast Sheep (224) – Great news from the ewes as trade excelled itself today to average £152.94 despite half of those offered being Mules. Top of the tree at £272 was a thumping Texel tup from W & M Knaggs & Son, East Newbiggin, a hefty Charollais from CM Cameron, Forcett Barns kept the tup trade climbing at £248. Continental ewes received a premium throughout, none more so than a tidy run from W Ramsay & Sons, Blakeley Hill who sold thrice between £248 and £251. As mentioned, Mules were out in force, the breed topped at £170 and averaged an excellent £139.50.
Lead Grossing Cast Sheep- £272 £180 W&M Knaggs & Son. £251 £250 £248 £200 £164 £160 £158 W Ramsay & Sons. £248 CM Cameron. £210 £174 £170 £163 £155 AWSM Farms. £186 £168 x2 £160 x2 £156 Wytherstone Farm. £182 £168 A Pennell. £178 R Errington & Son. £170 £169 JJ Horn. £170 x2 D&PH Brown. £165 JW&DW Laing. £155 JK Gill & Son.
